Biggest Property Viewing Turn-Offs

When you put your property on the market, it’s important that you do everything you can to ensure it’s as appealing as can be. A study conducted by Gocompare.com Home Insurance has shown the ten biggest turn-offs for potential buyers that you need to take into consideration.

Damp

A whopping 70% of people stated they’d be turned off at the sight of damp patches or stained walls. This is often due to how expensive it can be to fix and can also indicate further issues within the property, like a leaking gutter or roof.

Property in poor state of repair

Next was a property that’s in a poor state of repair, which 63% of people said would turn them off. This isn’t a surprising one since repairs can get very expensive quickly and are often time consuming.

Many homebuyers (56%) appear to be turned off by poor smelling homes, which shouldn’t surprise many. Examples could be smells caused by pets, food and cigarettes. Here’s one of our recent blogs on quick and effective ways to improve the smell of your home.

No space for parking

Another 56% of homebuyers stated that parking was another deal breaker when selecting a new home. Parking is convenient and also helps lower car insurance premiums.

Poorly lit rooms

54% of people were put off by poor lighting; hardly anyone wants to come home in the summer to a house where the lights still need to be turned on, so it’s important to keep your home properly lit so it feels welcoming to viewers.

Unfinished works

About 54% of individuals stated that unfinished building work was off-putting when it came to buying a house. Viewing a house that looks like a building site isn’t very appealing and neither is the thought of buying one.

Small rooms

51% of homebuyers said a home with small rooms was a turn-off. This is probably because of the increasing popularity of open plan areas. Small spaces are often advertised as ‘cosy’ but it appears many homebuyers aren’t looking for this.

Small kitchens

It seems 44% of individuals would be put off by a property with a small kitchen. A kitchen is the hub of many homes and if there isn’t enough space for wining and dining guests it often won’t be considered.

Poor DIY

Good intentions aside, bad DIY is off-putting to 43% of homebuyers. An unfinished curtain rail or skirting board can look tatty and gives off the feeling that the property isn’t care for. When the time comes to conduct viewings, we suggest just putting the tools down.

Here are the rest of the top 20 things that put off homebuyers:

Dirty house – 37%

Stone cladding, render or pebble dash on outside walls – 31%

Outdated bathroom – 25%

Outdated kitchen – 25%

Artex or textured ceilings – 18%

Plastic windows – 18%

Overgrown garden – 16%

General untidiness – 16%

Cluttered rooms – 15%

Dated or over the top décor – 14%

Is there something else you find that’s off-putting which wasn’t listed above? Let us know on Twitter @haart_uk!

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE. haart introduce to Just Mortgages a trading name of Just Mortgages Direct Limited who are appointed representatives of Openwork Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.